Houston Texans Coordinators to blame in loss to Carolina Panthers

The Houston Texans lost a totally winnable game on Thursday Night Football.

Where to begin? This was a very winnable game for the Houston Texans, especially after Christian McCaffrey left the game with a hamstring injury, and first-round pick Jaycee Horn also left the game. Offensive Coordinator Tim Kelly was in a world of his own, continuing to run the ball against a Panthers defense that was one of, if not the best in the league heading into the game.

When Davis Mills finally got the green light to throw the ball, he looked better than he has all year, leading a touchdown drive capped by a throw to Anthony Miller to get their first score. But once again, Joey Slye missed an important kick and left the Texans in a 7-6 mark at Halftime.

Not to mention the countless flags that were thrown on both sides of the ball, as it seemed like a referee clinic more than a football game. That was the story of the first half.

Houston Texans looked like an inexperienced team on Thursday Night Football, and it painfully was reaffirmed

The second half featured more weird playcalling and sticking to the run. It was also shocking how Lovie Smith did not have this defense ready to play against Sam Darnold. Darnold had two fumbles that the Texans could not recover.

Those would have been an obvious big swing as field position was prime when both fumbles happened. Lonnie Johnson Jr. and Eric Murray were so far away from the ball that it was hard to understand what was going on. It goes to show how much this team is reliant upon turnovers to get the offense in a good scoring position.

This is a game where the Houston Texans have to learn that rookie QB’s cant be coddled once you trot them out. The only way to learn as a rookie is to have the plays ran as-is and take what happens.

It was a short week, injuries were there, but this Texans team once again played pretty close to Carolina. Even if it didn’t seem like that at times.